Ford distributor City Auto chairman’s wife plans $5 mln buy to become major shareholder

Ngo Thi Hanh, wife of Ford distributor City Auto (HoSE: CTF) chairman Tran Ngoc Dan, has registered to buy 6 million CTF shares to increase her ownership to 6.4%, according to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE).

Based on the closing price of VND21,900 ($0.84) per CTF share on Tuesday, the last trading day before Vietnam’s five-day holiday, Hanh may cash out VND131.4 billion ($5.1 million).

CTF had declined for two straight sessions, each time slipping 0.45% from the reference price. The stock is down just over 0.45% year-to-date.

Hanh’s transaction is scheduled from May 7 to June 5 via both throughput and order matching.

If the deal goes through, she will raise her ownership in City Auto, a leading distributor of Ford and Hyundai automobiles in Vietnam, from 0.15% (150,000 shares) to 6.4% (over 6.1 million shares), making her a major shareholder.

City Auto's Q1/2025 performance

In Q1/2025, City Auto's net revenue reached VND2.01 trillion ($77.3 million), a 33.6% increase year-on-year.

After deducting nearly VND1.89 trillion ($72.7 million) in cost of goods sold, the company posted a gross profit of VND117.7 billion ($4.5 million), up 65.7%.

However, financial income declined by 60.9% compared to Q1/2024 to VND35.7 billion ($1.4 million). On the flip side, financial expenses rose by 11.5%, surpassing VND46.6 billion ($1.8 million). Selling and administrative costs also edged up.

As a result, Q1 net profit fell sharply to VND2.9 billion ($112,000), down 62.3% from a year earlier.

The company attributed the profit decline to the sluggish recovery of the automobile market during the quarter.

On the balance sheet, City Auto's total assets increased by 7.7% year-to-date to nearly VND4.22 trillion ($162.3 million). Inventory rose 7% to VND656.9 billion ($25.3 million), accounting for 15.6% of total assets.

Liabilities expanded 10.7% to more than VND3.09 trillion ($118.8 million), with loans and financial leases making up VND2.49 trillion ($95.8 million), or 80.6% of total debt.

Following the rebound of the benchmark VN-Index from its April 9 bottom, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange has witnessed a flurry of stock transactions by executives, their relatives, and major shareholders.

In this vein, Vimeco (HNX: VMC), formerly a subsidiary of construction giant Vinaconex, saw its major shareholder, Ngo Thi Quynh Van, purchase 2.8 million VMC shares on April 23, raising her ownership to 10.71%.

Two days later, Duong Duc Vu, another key shareholder, acquired over 2.9 million shares, equivalent to an 11.2% stake.

Prior to the transactions, neither Van nor Vu held any shares in Vimeco.

On the other hand, Phan Tran Hieu sold his entire holding of over 5.7 million VMC shares (21.91%), exiting the shareholder list.

Another notable case is Nguyen Ngoc Thach, a board member at Van Dien Fused Magnesium Phosphate Fertilizer JSC (HoSE:VAF), who has filed a public offer to purchase 400,000 VAF shares at VND16,100 ($0.62) each.

Following the transaction, Thach and his affiliated company are expected to hold a combined 25.89% stake, with Thach personally owning 1.42%.

Meanwhile, several executives of listed companies have seized the market rebound to sell off their shares.

Notably, Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, vice chairwoman and deputy CEO of Dabaco (HoSE: DBC), a leading Vietnamese livestock group, sold 1 million DBC shares between April 16-23.

Nguyen Hong Khiem, a board member and deputy CEO of house developer Lideco (HoSE: NTL), reported selling 981,900 out of the more than 1.75 million NTL shares he had registered for sale between March 21 and April 18.